Death-white realms

A small, lonely, oppressed orphan reading A History of British Birds in search of solace and stimulus and finding instead bleak descriptions of icy northern climes … a chill echo of the love-starved world assigned to her.

‘Of these death-white realms, formed an idea of my own: shadowy, like all the half-comprehended notions that float dim through children’s brains, but strangely impressive.’